A business owner was left appalled when her Toby Carvery leftovers were returned wrapped in cling film after she asked to take them home.
What happened at the restaurant
Ellis Watson visited the Gorseinon branch of Toby Carvery in Swansea on Thursday, 9 July to enjoy an afternoon roast with a friend. The 32-year-old said her friend struggled to finish the meal, which consisted of gammon, stuffing, roast potatoes, vegetables and a Yorkshire pudding, so Ellis requested it be packaged up to take home.
Ellis said the waiter explained they had no takeaway boxes available, but could "wrap it up" for them. A horrified Ellis could scarcely believe what she saw when she claims a member of staff handed over the entire dinner rolled up in cling film in a sausage-like shape.
Concerns raised
After raising her concerns about the leftovers, Ellis claims staff insisted the restaurant was running short on takeaway boxes — yet she says there were containers stacked on the side ready for deliveries. Video footage shows Ellis unwrapping the fused roast onto a plate at home, before throwing away the "slop".
Following a complaint to head office, Ellis claims the restaurant responded by saying "food is intended to be eaten straight away, not reheated" to prevent customers from "making themselves ill".
Customer's account
Ellis, from Middlesbrough, North Yorkshire, said: "I was out with a friend catching up and she can't eat much due to medication. Instead of paying for a child's meal she paid for an adult one to take [any leftovers] away." She added: "She only had about four bites. We noticed they had the takeaway boxes and that's why we asked. [After asking for a takeaway box] the waitress said 'I haven't got a box but I can wrap it up for you'. I thought it would come out in a takeaway box."
"I'd just watched them give one out to a delivery driver. Then they came out with it all wrapped in cling film. I got up and said 'is this a laugh?' to the chef behind the counter. I asked for one of the [takeaway] bowls and he said 'I'm not allowed to give you one'."
"I went 'you are kidding me?' and he said 'listen, I'm on your side, it's not me. Go and speak to the manager'. So even the chef knew it was wrong. How do you put a whole Sunday dinner in cling film?"
Response from Toby Carvery
"I spoke to the manager and he still wouldn't give me one. He said they were running short, but I saw them for takeaways. It's not even like a Yorkshire pudding wrap, it's literally all poured in. It looked like a dog's dinner, like slop."
Left with no other option, Ellis brought the leftover roast home and complained to management about their policy regarding takeaway boxes. In an email, Toby Carvery wrote: "With our takeaway boxes we purely use these for takeaway use, which are prepared by guest [sic] at the deck [sic] or by our team in the kitchen. These are then taken by our guests straight away."
"This avoids the temperature dropping to low and needed to be reheated. Our food is intended to be ate [sic] straight away not reheated. We have a duty of care to our guests to ensure we are providing temperature controlled food so food can be ate [sic] straight away and not reheated. This takes away the element of human error of the food being underheated and possibly making themselves ill."
Ellis said: "They're a multi-million pound company, I think they could invest in a few takeaway containers." Toby Carvery's owners, Mitchells & Butlers, have been approached for comment.
